Arts and crafts make for great holiday gifts, and buying from local galleries and shops helps support Northeast Ohio’s creative community and economy

By Ed Carroll

As the holidays approach, TV airwaves will be filled with advertisements peddling the latest and trendiest gifts. While there are those who are happy to give or receive such items, others may prefer more unique options. Luckily for Northeast Ohioans looking for something one-of-a-kind, the region is home to a number of galleries and shops that offer just that, including many items created by area artists and artisans.

Local purveyors of arts and crafts from Don Drumm Studios & Gallery in Akron, Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights, Koehn Sculptors’ Sanctuary on Green in South Euclid, Local Artistree in Rocky River and Screw Factory Artists in Lakewood share why artistic offerings purchased from local businesses not only make for a special gift but also help support the region’s creative community.

Local exposure in Cleveland Heights

For its 16th Annual Holiday Store, Heights Arts commissioned a design-forward porcelain menorah by Seth Nagelberg, head of the Cleveland Institute of Art ceramics department. Photo by Heights Arts

Heights Arts emphasizes diversity – particularly in its programming, which combines visual arts with concerts and poetry, says Rachel Bernstein, Heights Arts executive director. When someone from the area buys works of art from a local gallery such as Heights Arts, that person is contributing to the local economy.

“We represent more than 100 local artists,” she says. “We have made it our mission since 2000 to support local artists, and through sales and exhibition, (we) have given out almost ($1 million) in commission to the local economy.”

A primary benefit of an artist showing and selling work through Heights Arts is increased exposure, Bernstein says. The gallery also is home to a store that features locally made ceramics, jewelry, stationery and more – and every holiday season, it hosts a holiday store. Heights Arts’ 16th Annual Holiday Store will be in the gallery through Dec. 30.

“First, because we’re open longer (hours), (artists) get more exposure,” Bernstein says. “Second, in our location, we’re next to the Cedar Lee Theatre, so we get a lot of traffic of people who might not be exposed to their work otherwise. Here, the art is consistently on view, (our staff is) here and (artists) don’t have to be in order to have their work sold.”

Destination art in Akron

Toni Billick, gallery manager at Don Drumm Studios & Gallery, says art makes a great gift because it’s often something you can’t get anywhere else. She says purchasing art from a local gallery has benefits over purchasing from an online retailer.

“Purchasing here in the store, you can touch (the art), see it, see the materials (used),” she says. “Online, you don’t have those options.”

Don Drumm Studios & Gallery showcases more than 500 artists and artisans, including many with Northeast Ohio ties – something Billick says benefits both the artist and the customer. Among the items available are cookware, jewelry, sculpture and religious pieces, like crosses or menorahs.

“We have a huge clientele, and being exposed and being seen by our customers broadens (the artists’) clientele as well,” she says. “We often have people who purchase items here looking for a specific artist.”

In addition, many art buyers seek out the studio simply based on the name.

“Don (Drumm) is a local celebrity,” Billick says of the studio’s owner. “We have a lot of followers in the area, people who come here from out of state and out of the country. We constantly have people from out of town, specifically looking to buy Don Drumm items to bring a piece of Akron back to their homes.”

Mass appeal in Rocky River

“Orange Dahlia” by Susan Lydon is an example of the work that can be found at Local Artistree. Photo by Local Artistree

Christal Keener, co-owner of Local Artistree, says giving the gift of art makes for a more personal present.

“I think (the gift of art) is a nice form of expression,” she says. “It’s certainly a time to support our local work force – now, in times like this, more than ever. You can go to (a chain retailer that) knocks off everything that maybe a local designer does, but I think we need to support our local friends and neighbors. I would much rather receive something made locally than something made overseas.”

All of Local Artistree’s artists – whether they’re full-time artists or make things on the side – are from Northeast Ohio, Keener says. Even for part-timers, showcasing work at Local Artistree – which offers artistic necklaces, scarves, bowls and pillows, among many other things – has its benefits.

“There’s so much static out there, so many shows and festivals,” she says. “We offer a consistent place to shop. Our inventory does change, but if you follow a particular artist, we can get in contact with them if you want a custom piece.

“When we write the checks and the artists get the checks because their products sold, there’s a lot of joy. You’re making someone feel good by purchasing their work. We’re not a white-walled gallery, which are great and I do go to those. We’re more of a gallery that appeals to the masses. We have something for everyone and many different price points, from $5 to $500.”

Seeing it made in Lakewood

Gina DeSantis Ceramics’ studio is one of many shoppers will be able to visit during Screw Factory Artists’ Holiday Market. Photo by Screw Factory Artists

The Lake Erie Building and Templar Industrial Park has been an institution for more than 100 years, even though the building’s purpose and function have changed a few times throughout its history. It was originally a factory for Templar Motor Cars, and today, it’s home of the Screw Factory Artists.

Matt Richards, co-chair of the committee for the upcoming Holiday Market, which this year takes place Dec. 15-16, explains that the Screw Factory Artists are a collection of about 30 makers – including ceramic artists, woodworkers, jewelers and visual artists – whose studios are in the building. A few times a year, including notably during the holidays, the public has an opportunity to tour the building and visit the various studios.

“We’re not a local gallery,” Richards says. “Here, you get to see where it’s made. Customers can come in and talk to the artist, see where (the art) is made and sometimes how it’s made, and that adds a lot to the experience. A lot of people really appreciate that. It’s not like coming to an outlet mall – you’re coming directly to a factory.”

People appreciate that someone in their neighborhood is making art as opposed to bringing in art from somewhere such as New York City, Richards says.

“People say, ‘Oh my god, there’s an artist right around the corner and he makes this really cool stuff,’” he says. “I think that has more of an appeal, it’s more familiar to them.”

Sculpting in South Euclid

Jumping jacks, puppet-like toys with moving joints, created by Norbert and Victoria Koehn can be found at Koehn Sculptors’ Sanctuary on Green. Photo by Michael C. Butz

Maybe one of the most import reasons to buy gifts from local galleries and shops is because they’re small businesses. Victoria Koehn, co-owner of the Koehn Sculptors’ Sanctuary on Green, says the personalized thought and attention is “ever present” when someone buys locally made art.

“There is a certain pleasure that one experiences knowing the person from whom they’ve just made a purchase and knowing that they are helping support their career,” she says. “Also, every region is different, and online help usually has a difficult time relating to the region or city that a customer is from.”

Koehn and her husband Norbert Koehn own the Sanctuary on Green, where they sell their sculptures and gifts with an eye for detail and have a loyal following of customers. Though both sculpt, the Sanctuary also offers artistic gifts from around the world, including special rooms, some featuring gifts for children or the kitchen and others around certain themes, such as their Swedish and German rooms.

Each year, the Koehns host a special holiday shop. Their 38th Annual Open House & Christkindlmarkt runs through Dec. 27, and there, visitors can shop from a wide assortment of ornaments, decorations and more.

Koehn says local galleries are extensions of the artist and their voice.

“They usually understand what we express and how our work is created,” she says. “Galleries only represent artists whom they admire and see as exciting creators. Their excitement and energy then passes through our works in presentation to prospective clients.” CV

Photography is as natural as breathing to Herbert Ascherman Jr., whose work will be on display at two shows this fall

By Carlo Wolff

Ascherman’s portrait of a woman in a wedding dress at a piano in Bratenahl. PHOTO | Herbert Ascherman Jr.

Mounting a photographic exhibition is one thing. For Herbert Ascherman Jr., it’s two.

In September, the work of Ascherman, a photographer widely known for his portraits, will be the subject of two exhibitions: a 40-year retrospective at Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights and a smaller, more conceptual one at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve Gallery in Cleveland.

The Heights Arts exhibition, Ascherman’s first retrospective, consists of 64 black-and-white analog prints and one color photograph, taken “with a myriad of cameras.” The Cleveland display is 25 diptychs capturing Cleveland police and fire department personnel in their public and private modes.

“I went through 120,000 black-and-white negatives to pick the 200 that we edited down to 65,” Ascherman said of the Heights Arts show. “I went through every negative with a magnifying glass, frame by frame; the majority of these images have never been seen before.”

Ascherman took the color photo of his wife, Colleen Sweeney, in 2000 on Achill Island off the coast of Ireland.

“It’s this gorgeous, 19th-century image of this beautiful redheaded woman in a black cape set against the brown heath, the wild heath of Ireland,” he said. “My shoulder is backed up against the cemetery wall, where her great-great-grand mother is buried.”

One could call this third-generation Shaker resident and fourth-generation Clevelander a man out of time; many Ascherman photos, particularly ones taken in France, resonate backward, speaking to a more leisurely, more elegant era. Even some American ones, like his black-and-white print of a woman leaning against a piano in Bratenahl, evoke such painters as John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler. Like those American masters, Ascherman composes as much as he captures.

“My style is 19th-century Romantic,” Ascherman said, noting he takes his cues from the early French daguerrian photographers and, in the 20th century, Yousuf Karsh of Ottawa, Canada and Arnold Newman of New York City.

Ascherman called Karsh a “romantic and heroic portrait photographer,” while Newman “created environmental portrait photography in the 1940s.”

The director of the Bibliotheque Nationale, France’s version of the Library of Congress, told Ascherman he has “American eyes and a French heart.”

The Artists Archives exhibit is more contemporary and thematic. Working with the Silver & Gold, the fundraising arm of the Fraternal Order of Police, Ascherman has taken 25 pairs of 8-by-10 photos with his Deardorff view camera, yielding silver gelatin prints. They show the same figure “publicly as we see them and privately as they are,” Ascherman said.

Photography continues to liberate him.

“I characterize myself as eternally curious. I go out for a walk, I take a camera, I see what I can see. And that’s all it is. It’s just walking and breathing.”

Pictures appear “in front of you and then you take them,” he said. “It’s a very Zen kind of thing. There are also very specific projects that I have done over the years; for example, I spent three summers in North Dakota and Montana photographing American Indians; I took over 750 black-and-white photographs with that 8-by-10 camera.” A show of some 45 handmade platinum prints from this is planned for the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 2018.

“I’ve had cameras since I was a kid,” he said. “I went to work for my father, he owned a lumber business, and it occurred to me I needed a job I couldn’t get fired from. So I picked up a camera and with very little practical experience went to work.

“My entire life has been spent behind a camera,” Ascherman added. “It’s been a life of discovery and delight. I get paid to take pictures. How much better does it get?”

Ascherman has notched 1,735 weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs and “doggie birthday parties,” along with 9,000 black-and-white portraits; he works internationally, and he turned over 6,000 black-and-white portrait files he’d accumulated over 35 years to the Western Reserve Historical Society.

“I hope to share my vision with others who will enjoy what I enjoy,” Ascherman said. “I hope that my work uplifts the human condition. In my final discussion with my father, who wanted me to be in his business, he said put away the cameras and concentrate on business. He said, ‘I put food on 350 plates a day.’ And I looked at him without missing a beat and said, ‘I can put a smile on 350,000 people a day. Who makes the better contribution?’” CV

Lead image: Herbert Ascherman Jr. loves Cleveland, “selling” the city wherever he travels. Fans of the peripatetic photographer will have two major opportunities in September to savor the images he’s created over the past four decades. PHOTO | Herbert Ascherman Jr.